BSG theory...
So, we know that there were Cylons on the colonies and in the galactic fleet. We know that some of them were sleeper agents, some were self-aware from the beginning, some were those we came to know as the "final five". But there are questions which have not been answered. Among these questions are...
- How did these Cylons infiltrate colonial society? For self-aware adults with a support network, it's possible to enter a society as an adult and establish oneself (get a job, provide references, make the excuse that you've just moved in to town which is why no-one knows you.) For the sleeper agents, it's possible memories were implanted and they were inserted into society in a similar fashion, though unaware that their entire life histories were false. But for the final five, this would not have been possible. Consider Anders - he's a professional athlete, his whole life history would have been picked to pieces and paraded across the media. Yes, a created history could be put in place and any holes in the story could be excused...but it would be much easier to give him an actual history, an actual childhood and adolescence and adulthood and people who actually know him.
- Who is the thirteenth Cylon? There was a Cylon model who was "retired" because he was too much of a dissident.
- Who is Starbuck? How does she manage to come back from the dead - literally, discover her own burned corpse and have genetic tests done which confirm that the body was her, and was dead (thanks for that particular hugely public reveal, Baltar), and how does she "know" or sense the way to Earth? As well as the symbol that she knows, that she has known since childhood, that she kept drawing everywhere, that was in the holy temple. It was a symbol from Kobol, from the original home of the 13 tribes, no-one knew it which is why its significance was overlooked when she was young.
Here's my theory...
How did the Cylons infiltrate colonial society?
- The self-aware adults probably as said above, just drop into a new city and masquerade as a tourist (Six, learning about people and accidentally killing a baby) or fabricate a history to get themselves a job (Caprica Six, the "security programmer") - realistically, once you've passed the first line of security checks and references, how much of your history comes up in your job? If you can fundamentally do the job, and occasionally come up with "I learned to do this in a previous position", in 6 months' time you've completely assimilated with the company and no-one is even asking any more. Possibly sooner if you've got good social skills/a killer bod. (Looking at you Tricia Helfer).
- The Final Five were probably infiltrated as infants. Let's posit a sub-set of Cylons, who have no interaction with the main 7. They're on a separate network. We'll call these the Nannies. The purpose of the nannies is to bring up the babies, and to ensure the survival of the Cylon race. They are self-aware adults. They get jobs in healthcare and child care. They are the doctors, the midwives, the childminders of humanity. When a Final Five adult dies, they are downloaded into an infant body (not into an adult body as the others are as standard.) That infant is then swapped with a human child. Maybe the baby is stillborn and this way the human parents get a child of their own to raise. Maybe the child is born alive and the Nanny kills them; Cylons clearly don't view humans as on the same level of themselves, so they may not have the same respect for human life as they do for Cylon. That child then grows up and has a normal life! They join the military, they become athletes, they join the PR corps, whatever. They have a normal life. They have buried memories, like the sleeper agents, but they are not activated because they are not relevant. The Nannies have access to the programming of all Cylon models. They can program the main 7 to not remember the faces of the Final Five. They can program the Five not to remember who they were. They can program everyone not to remember the thirteenth Cylon.
- The thirteenth Cylon is Starbuck. She doesn't know it, any more than any of the Final Five remember what they were. The other 12 don't remember her because they have been programmed not to - there was enough history that the Nannies couldn't altogether write her out of their collective memory, but they could dull the edges of it. Their fundamental purpose is to ensure the continued survival of the Cylon race, so they could not allow the retirement of one of their member, especially when there are so few unique models alive. So, instead of allowing her to be boxed altogether, they squirrel her away, insert her into a whole new society where she can have her own life, in part with her own people - she is on Caprica, she does enter the military, they probably watched over her and even guided her in parts of her life - and, if they needed to, they could even activate her. She retains some memories though from Kobol, which suggests she was or may have been originally self-aware and had her memories repressed later. The other 12 have had their memories of her changed and dulled and repressed and even remember her as being male, which allows her to more easily hide in plain sight. The Nannies are still travelling with the fleet, possibly in one of the rebirth ships hidden away where no-one would look for them (the beauty of working with computers is that they can be programmed not to look at this corner and then programmed to not even know they're not looking at this corner), carrying with them spare bodies for the Final Five and for Starbuck. These spare bodies are being artificially aged, so that if they die (LIKE FOR INSTANCE ELLEN TIGH DOES!!!) they can be reborn in an age-appropriate body (LIKE FOR INSTANCE ELLEN TIGH DOES!!!) This is how Starbuck is reborn after she blows all up, and they build her a new Viper for the sake of her own peace of mind and personal continuity.
Now, go pick holes!
- How did these Cylons infiltrate colonial society? For self-aware adults with a support network, it's possible to enter a society as an adult and establish oneself (get a job, provide references, make the excuse that you've just moved in to town which is why no-one knows you.) For the sleeper agents, it's possible memories were implanted and they were inserted into society in a similar fashion, though unaware that their entire life histories were false. But for the final five, this would not have been possible. Consider Anders - he's a professional athlete, his whole life history would have been picked to pieces and paraded across the media. Yes, a created history could be put in place and any holes in the story could be excused...but it would be much easier to give him an actual history, an actual childhood and adolescence and adulthood and people who actually know him.
- Who is the thirteenth Cylon? There was a Cylon model who was "retired" because he was too much of a dissident.
- Who is Starbuck? How does she manage to come back from the dead - literally, discover her own burned corpse and have genetic tests done which confirm that the body was her, and was dead (thanks for that particular hugely public reveal, Baltar), and how does she "know" or sense the way to Earth? As well as the symbol that she knows, that she has known since childhood, that she kept drawing everywhere, that was in the holy temple. It was a symbol from Kobol, from the original home of the 13 tribes, no-one knew it which is why its significance was overlooked when she was young.
Here's my theory...
How did the Cylons infiltrate colonial society?
- The self-aware adults probably as said above, just drop into a new city and masquerade as a tourist (Six, learning about people and accidentally killing a baby) or fabricate a history to get themselves a job (Caprica Six, the "security programmer") - realistically, once you've passed the first line of security checks and references, how much of your history comes up in your job? If you can fundamentally do the job, and occasionally come up with "I learned to do this in a previous position", in 6 months' time you've completely assimilated with the company and no-one is even asking any more. Possibly sooner if you've got good social skills/a killer bod. (Looking at you Tricia Helfer).
- The Final Five were probably infiltrated as infants. Let's posit a sub-set of Cylons, who have no interaction with the main 7. They're on a separate network. We'll call these the Nannies. The purpose of the nannies is to bring up the babies, and to ensure the survival of the Cylon race. They are self-aware adults. They get jobs in healthcare and child care. They are the doctors, the midwives, the childminders of humanity. When a Final Five adult dies, they are downloaded into an infant body (not into an adult body as the others are as standard.) That infant is then swapped with a human child. Maybe the baby is stillborn and this way the human parents get a child of their own to raise. Maybe the child is born alive and the Nanny kills them; Cylons clearly don't view humans as on the same level of themselves, so they may not have the same respect for human life as they do for Cylon. That child then grows up and has a normal life! They join the military, they become athletes, they join the PR corps, whatever. They have a normal life. They have buried memories, like the sleeper agents, but they are not activated because they are not relevant. The Nannies have access to the programming of all Cylon models. They can program the main 7 to not remember the faces of the Final Five. They can program the Five not to remember who they were. They can program everyone not to remember the thirteenth Cylon.
- The thirteenth Cylon is Starbuck. She doesn't know it, any more than any of the Final Five remember what they were. The other 12 don't remember her because they have been programmed not to - there was enough history that the Nannies couldn't altogether write her out of their collective memory, but they could dull the edges of it. Their fundamental purpose is to ensure the continued survival of the Cylon race, so they could not allow the retirement of one of their member, especially when there are so few unique models alive. So, instead of allowing her to be boxed altogether, they squirrel her away, insert her into a whole new society where she can have her own life, in part with her own people - she is on Caprica, she does enter the military, they probably watched over her and even guided her in parts of her life - and, if they needed to, they could even activate her. She retains some memories though from Kobol, which suggests she was or may have been originally self-aware and had her memories repressed later. The other 12 have had their memories of her changed and dulled and repressed and even remember her as being male, which allows her to more easily hide in plain sight. The Nannies are still travelling with the fleet, possibly in one of the rebirth ships hidden away where no-one would look for them (the beauty of working with computers is that they can be programmed not to look at this corner and then programmed to not even know they're not looking at this corner), carrying with them spare bodies for the Final Five and for Starbuck. These spare bodies are being artificially aged, so that if they die (LIKE FOR INSTANCE ELLEN TIGH DOES!!!) they can be reborn in an age-appropriate body (LIKE FOR INSTANCE ELLEN TIGH DOES!!!) This is how Starbuck is reborn after she blows all up, and they build her a new Viper for the sake of her own peace of mind and personal continuity.
Now, go pick holes!